Combination periscope, seat, and cane



Oct. 17, 1944. HELGASON COMBINATION PERISCOPE SEAT AND CANE Originl Filed Oct. 21, 1940 .H R0 0 mmMm m/ wm wk .A L/ l @W Y. B

Patented Oct. 17, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,360,494 COMBINATION PERISCOPE, SEAT, AND

352,034, October 21, 1940.

This application April 24, 1944, Serial No. 532,567

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a device designed to form a combination seat and periscope; and,

An object of the invention is to provide a simple, practical, and efficient article of the character contemplated.

Another object is to provide a seat structure having a periscope incorporated therein whereby objects not ordinarily in view may be observed, when the device is not used as a seat.

A further object is to provide a novel fulcrum support for the seat when the device is not used as a periscope for observational purposes.

Other objects andadvantages of the invention may appear in the drawing, the specification, and the appended claim.

This application is a substitute for application Serial No. 362,034, filed October 21, 1940.

Fig. 1 is a side View of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the base support of the seat shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Figure 5 is a detail showing the form of construction used to support the seat of the device in longitudinal alignment with the staff or leg thereof.

In the drawing the reference character II] indi-cates the device of this invention, which is shown as being formed with a leg I2, having an anti-skid or anti-slip rubber cap I4 upon what may be termed its lower end. Upon the upper end of the leg I2, I secure a tri-cornered block or support I6 which is preferably hollow, although for basic purposes of the invention it may be formed of solid matter such as a piece of wood. The structure I6 is secured upon the leg I2 in such manner that one of the legs or faces thereof lies parallel with the leg I2 while another of the faces of the structure It lies in a plane disposed at 90 degrees to the leg and accordingly forms the upper end of the leg. The third of the faces of the structure of course lies in an angle between the vertical and horizontal, and may be said to repose at an angle of 45 degrees to the leg.

At a point coincidental with the vertical and horizontal portions of the structure I6, I secure a plate I8 in hinged relation thereto, so that the plate which normally forms a combined seat and visor, depending only upon its purported use, may be extended in longitudinal alignment with the leg I2 for purposes of packaging or the like, while when moved through 90 degrees to a horizontal position, forms a seat which taken together with the leg I2 forms a one-legged stool or seat arrangement.

Since the plate I8 from the nature of its purpose is of sizable form in comparison with the structure IS, the corner 20 of the member I6 forms a fulcrum upon which the plate I8 tends to turn, being limited in such movement only by the tie afforded by the hinge 22 which of course joins the plate I8 and the member I6.

The angularly inclined face 22 of the member I6 is adapted to and does carry a mirror or reflecting surface 24, which in cooperation with a like mirror or reflecting surface 26 positioned in a housing 28 adjustably positioned upon the leg l2, forms an arrangement which may be called a periscope for the purposes of this disclosure.

The member 28, as will be observed in the drawing, is hollow, being formed with solid sides, and this fact tends to exclude or limit light thereby eliminating interfering light sources and rendering the periscope arrangement more satisfactory by sharpening the outline of objects observed. The member 28 is also adjustable, as mentioned above, with respect to the mirror 22 so that the arrangement is conformable to spot requirement, such as different height of users, or difference in height of things intervening between the user and the object to be observed. Screws 30 are adapted to hold the member 28 in any given position of adjustment.

For the purposes of packaging or other uses it may be desirable to hold the seat element la in longitudinal alignment with the leg I2, and as shown in Figure 5, such holding means may be a detent arrangement wherein a common round-headed screw 34 is screwed into the upper and back-side of the leg I2, while co-operative therewith, a springable wire 36 is driven into the rear edge of the seat I8 and across an opening 38 formed in the seat.

Thus when the seat is raised from its normal support IS, the rear edge of the plate will swingdownwardly and will cause the wire 36 to slip over the head of the screw 34 due to being slightly spread, and thereafter the wire is locked back of the head of the screw until pressure is again applied to force a reverse direction movement. This arrangement is both cheap and has proven to be satisfactory for holding purposes.

Reference has been previously made tothe fact that the support I6 could, within the principal object of the invention, be hollowed and if thus formed provides a convenient repository for accessories, such as cigarettes, matches, and the like, and when thus formed the openin within the support may be closed by such facile means as a swingable plate 40 hingedly secured to the support by means of a rivet 42.

The preceding description of structure employed to form the device of this invention is believed to be complete. In order that a more complete understanding of the invention may be had, a description of operation, use, and interdependence of structural elements will now follow.

Upon removal of the device from its container or place of lodgement it may be carried in extended condition and used as a cane or walking stick because of the detent or equivalent arrangement used to hold the device in elongated condition. Upon arrival at the place of use, such as a street parade, the user can readily fold the seat by giving the plate I8 a quick thrust to the right as seen in Figure 1. The device now forms a seat or one-legged stool, because the plate is rests horizontally upon the structure is, being engaged thereto by reason of the hinge 22 on the one hand and the fulcrum point or corner 2B of the support on the other hand.

The user may now sit upon the device with his feet spread of course to give stability to his position, thus affording great relief from tiresome waiting for the parade or other event to pass in review.

When the event is actually passing in review and every one present is stretching their necks to see, a person possessing the device of this invention need only to grasp the leg I2 and thrust the device upwardly until the eyes are in alignment with the opening 28a in the housing 28, thereby enabling the user to observe the mirror 26 which will of course reflect the image of objects passing in front of the mirror or reflecting surface 22, for each of the reflecting surfaces are set at an angle of 45 degrees, and this because of equality in incidence and reflection. When thus used as a periscope, it is to be noted that the seat in its over-hanging relation to the mirror 22 affords a visor which is supported in horizontal position by the support l6 thereby enabling objects to be observed with greater clarity than might otherwise be the case for the reason that interfering light is partially eliminated.

The preceding discussion is believed to be illustrative of the uses to which the device may be put, and of these uses, that of joint use as a seat and a periscope are believed to be mutually interdependent, because the plate 18 affords a means to sharpen the objects observed by cutting down the amount of interfering light, thus it will be apparent that when used as a periscope the device is quite efflcient, and the fact that the device also forms a seat clearly follows from the visored construction obtained in developing the item as a periscope, like-wise use of the device as a walking-stick obtains from the construction employed to hold the device in elongated form for shipment and the like. An opening of elongated form or shape provides a convenient means to grasp the device if used as a walking-stick.

In conclusion, it may be stated that various changes and modifications of the invention may be effected in practicing the same in departure from the drawing and description as given, without however, departing from the true spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the appended claim, accordingly, any variation thereof which falls within the scope of the claim is to be considered a part of the present invention.

I claim:

In a device of the character described, a leg member, a plate hingedly secured upon said leg, a tri-angularly shaped block upon said leg and being so positioned thereon as to form a means to limit movement of said plate to degrees relative to the leg, a plural number of reflecting surfaces, one of said reflecting surfaces being positioned upon said leg adjacent one of the extremities thereof, the other of said reflecting surfaces being positioned upon a face of said triangular block whereby an object viewed in the first stated reflecting surface is mirrored thereon by reflection by the second mentioned reflecting surface, said plate being adapted to form a visor to limit intensity of light on the second mentioned reflecting surface.

HELGI HELGASON. 

